Участие в гуманитарных проектах
1. Projekt Casa Austria in Sierra Oaxaca, Mexiko
С 1999 др.Фарр совместно с австрийскими врачами начал оказывать бесплатную стоматологическую и медицинскую помощь населению деревень ОАХАСА на юге Мексики. В апреле 2006 года там впервые был открыт единственный на сегодня стоматологический кабинет для бесплатного обслуживания населения.
2. Projekt NPH Kinderdorf San Pedro, Dominikanische Republik
В настоящее время др.Фарр помогает в строительстве и организации стоматологического кабинета в Доминиканской республике, где проживают 160 детей-сирот со своими педагогами.
3. Dental Clinic GK Philippines
The term “Gawad Kalinga” means “support, assistance” or “to provide assistance”.
Description of the project
A first-ever, fully functional dental clinic has been set up in a remote village in the Philippines with support and funding from the Philip Dear Foundation of the International College of Dentists (ICD), European Section. The dental clinic project supported by ICD-Europe will not only be able to provide free dental care for the GK residents and neighboring population, but will also encourage education and training in dental care and oral hygiene.
The dental clinic is the first and only dental clinic in the Gawad Kalinga network of villages in the Philippines, and was founded in July 2012 with the great support of ICD Europe Philip Dear Foundation. With the cooperation of several local dentists, free dental care can now be offered not only to the residents of the village but neighboring villages as well. It is expected that the clinic will benefit over a thousand families within a 15 kilometer radius. An agreement with the Iloilo Doctor’s College of Dentistry has been established, in order to involve young graduates in the GK Dental Clinic project. This may include on-site training at the GK Hope dental clinic in areas such as periodontics and prophylaxis, endodontics, surgery and implantology.
Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which has set itself the task to provide for the poor and needy people in the Philippines with decent homes, and to improve their living standards through education, livelihood and free, medical care. GK supports more than 2,000 villages spread over the entire Philippine islands. 300 to 500 families live in each of these villages.
Dental health education program established during visit in July 2014
During Dr Farr’s visit to Gawad Kalinga Hope Village on Negros Island, in July 2014, the dental clinic project reached another important step towards a sustainable and promising future. In a meeting with the local authorities, GK and the mayor of Talisay, Dr Eric M. Saratan, signed an agreement, which obliges both parties to mutual cooperation. The authorities will send voluntary dentists to work at the dental clinic, where Dr Farr (ICD) guarantees the cost-free supply of all the necessary dental equipment and materials.
On that occasion, the introduction of GK’s educational dental hygiene program at other schools in the area was discussed, to be implemented in the future. The recent cooperation with the Philippine Dental Association – which contributed greatly to the success of the events to mark the annual dental health day – represents another possibility to involve motivated external dentists in the project.
Prophylaxis and oral hygiene are central elements of the GK Hope Village Dental Clinic Project. Therefore, it is not enough to provide free dental services to the inhabitants of GK Hope Village, but there has to be continuous training of the local teachers, as their knowledge and commitment is essential in order to change the students’ perspective on personal oral and dental hygiene, as well as on dental visits. Dr. Farr gave training to the local staff, in which he explained the basics of healthy teeth, their function and lifespan and informed them about various oral diseases like caries and tooth loss and how those can be prevented through prophylaxis, the right cleaning technique and balanced nutrition.
The children at GK learn about these issues in the most playful manner: through role-play at the dental clinic, they can take on the role of the dentist, the patient or the assistant. Furthermore, the children receive a range of hygiene products and practice brushing their teeth with their teachers. However, the children lack the sanitary infrastructure at home to continue their brushing routine outside school. Therefore, one of the current priorities at GK Hope Village is to set up two “sanitary/hygienic corners” outside the dental clinic. Each will consist of 6-8 wash bowls and mirrors and will be available for use by all the students of the school. The plan is ready and the feedback by both local Gawad Kalinga as well as ICD Europe has been very positive.
To conclude, it is a great pleasure that GK inhabitants and organizers acknowledged a growing interest on the children’s part in dental health-related issues. It almost seems like there has been a paradigm shift: most children are no longer afraid of seeing the dentist, as they now associate dental visits with health instead of pain.
GK Hope Village Dental Clinic’s history of origin
The dental clinic was erected and retrofitted within 14 days in late June, early July 2012. Dr. Hani Farr, a dentist and periodontist from Vienna, Austria travelled to the Philippines to check local conditions and personally supervise construction and installation of the clinic. Being a long-standing and trusted member of ICD-Europe, he had successfully initiated similar projects in Mexico and the Dominican Republic for ICD, and was well-positioned to be the primary contact for the project. With the generous financial support of ICD Europe, Dr. Farr was able to purchase the needed dental equipment and instruments in Manila and had them delivered to Talisay at short notice. Together with Talisay City Mayor Eric Saratan, Dr. Farr was also on hand for the official opening of the dental clinic on 7 July 2012.
The city of Talisay in the island of Negros Occidental has about 600,000 inhabitants. The main source of income is agriculture (sugarcane planting). In the barangays (barrios) where the dental clinic is located live from 230,000 to 250,000 inhabitants. There are no existing medical or dental care facilities within a 15-kilometre radius. In emergencies, government dental clinics are visited, but they are not always open. Treatment options are limited to pain relief measures and tooth extraction. Therapies and filling root canals are rarely practiced. Dentures are a foreign concept to the local inhabitants as the population barely has the necessary financial resources. Treatments for practicing dentists are not affordable for the average citizen.
